Abstract
Clay play is one of the most favorite activities of toddlers. This research intends to determine the basic characteristics of clay play work pieces created by children in nursery school. Work pieces were created by 18 to 35-months-old nursery school children during four sessions of wheat flour clay play activity. Five boys and four girls participated in the activity. To determine the characteristics, exterior dimensions of 73 clay work pieces were precisely measured using a 3D measurement system. Cluster analysis (Ward method, square Euclid distance) was applied to the data. This enabled us to classify the data into five groups. Groups 1 and 2 account for 77% of the total, and they clarified the characteristics of the clay work pieces created. These groups would indicate characteristics of clay play work pieces of toddlers along to their development. The results suggest that these characteristics must be taken into consideration in the designing of toys or tools for toddlers.
